Friday, November 14, 2008

Yotteko-Ya Kyoto Ramen

After a long day of work and class, there's nothing better than a nice soothing bowl of ramen. Since I didn't get out of class until after 8:00pm, we decided to go somewhere that was open late. Yotteko-Ya Kyoto Ramen was just the place, open till 11:00pm, Monday - Saturday. When we arrived, we were quickly seated at one of two tables that were empty and cleaned off. It seems as though they don't clear off their tables until they're needed, leaving many of tables covered with empty bowls and plates the entire time we were there.

Yotteko-Ya'smenu offers different types of ramen, rice and a variety of sides orders, including Gyoza, Kara-age (fried chicken), Ebi Mayonnaise (Shrimp in a sweet mayonnaise sauce). They even have mini sundays for dessert. Unfortunately, like everywhere else, the prices here have gone up. And while they offer a variety of Combo Sets, they're pretty pricey, ranging from $10.45 - $17.45.

On the front of their menu they describe their soup:

"Our homemade soup is simmered for over 10 hours with the choicest pork, the freshest chickens and 10 different vegetables and spices. This meticulous process produces a uniquely thick collagen rich stock that will actually help prevent aging of skin and joints. So please enjoy our soup to the last drop and look younger!"

Yotteko-ya has three different soup bases to choose from: Shoyu Base, Tonshiro (Hawaiian Salt) and the "#1 Recommended Soup Base" Paitan. My friend and I both chose the Paitan "a richer thicker pork based broth which has creamier texture." Along with the type of base, you also get to choose how your noodles are boiled: Japanese Style (traditional firmer noodles) or Local Style (softer noodles). We both had our noodles Japaneses Style.

I had the Yasai (vegetable) Paitan Ramen ($8.95) which was topped with a slice of chashu (charsui), some kind of root, cabbage, onions, sesame seeds and a piece of broccoli. I'm not sure if the broth made me look any younger, but boy was it tasty and unlike anything else I've tasted. Not quite a tonkotsu base or a chicken base but of lovely mixture of both. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

My friend had the Chashu Paitan($8.95) which came with 5 pieces of charsui. For an additional $1, he had Yotteko-Ya's homemade red pepper and sesame oil mixture added. Many ramenya's have this type of spicy pepper paste on their tables with the shoyu, gyoza sauce, etc. for free, so i was a bit skeptical about paying an extra dollar for it, but boy was it worth it. The spicy mixture gave a mega spicy boost to the broth which I had to consume slowly, due to the heat.

While Yotteko-Ya's prices are little higher than most ramenyas, the uniqueness of the broth will definitely persuade me to visit again.

On a side note not at all ramen-related, we decided to swing by 7-eleven after dinner to get a Red Bull and I was shocked at what they were selling: SPAM LOVERS Musubi. Its like half a can of spam, almost more spam than rice!